Coal furnace and stove.



J. J. DIX.

GOAL FURNAGE AND STOVE.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 6,1911.

Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

I Ivr CDLUMBM PLANOGRAPH co.. WASHINGTON, D. c.

2 SHEETS-SHBET 2.

CDLUMBM PLANUGRAFH CO..WASHINGTON. D. c.

NTTE

JOSEPH J. DIX, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

COAL` FURNACE AND STOVE.

To aZZ 'Lu/mm it may cncern Be it known that I, JOSEPH J. DIX, a citizen of the United States, residingat St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Coal Furnaces and Stoves, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same.

This invention relates to coal furnaces and stoves.

One object of the invention is to provide a furnace or stove which is so designed that the volatile matter and free carbon in the coal that is introduced into the furnace will be practically consumed before the fuel enters the combustion chamber of the furnace, thereby eliminating smoke and insuring a steady and even heat.

Another object is to provide a furnace or stove that is economical to operate and easy to control. And still another object of my invention is to provide a furnace or stove having a coking compartment communicating with the combustion chamber for converting green coal into coke which is thereafter fed to the grate of the combustion chamber.

Other objects and desirable features of my invention will be hereinafter pointed out.

Figure l of the drawings is a vertical sectional view of a furnace constructed in accordance with my invention, said View being taken on the line l-1 of Fig. 2; Fig. 2 is a top plan view; Fig. 3 is a vertical cross sectional view taken on the line 3-8 of Fig. 1; Fig. t is a vertical sectional View taken on the line 4-4 of F ig. 3; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of one of the air ducts in the coking compartment; and Fig. 6 is a front elevational view of a cooking stove constructed in accordance with my invention.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate the preferred form of my invention,

A designates the combustion chamber of the furnace, and B designates a coking compartment that connunicates with said combustion chamber tluough an arch l, as shown in F ig. l, the grate in the combustion chamber on which the incandescent fuel rests being designated by the reference character 2. The coking compartment B may be of any preferred shape or design but it is preferably constructed in substantially the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 6, 1911.

Patented Apr. 16, 1912. Serial No. 6123593.

nanner shown in Fig. l and comprises an inclined front wall 3 that merges into a bottom wall 4: which is also slightly inclined. The green coal, preferably bituminous coal, is introduced into the coking compartment B through openings in the top wall of said compartment which are normally closed by lids or doors 5, and after said coal has been converted into coke, as hereinafter described, the coke is fed or pushed onto the grate 2 of the combustion chamber A of the furnace. A plurality of air ducts C are arranged in the coking compartment B, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, for introducing air direct-ly into and through the mass of fuel in the coking compartment, said air ducts being arranged parallel to each other and eXtending in the direction in which the coked fuel is fed from the eompartment B into the combustion chamber of the furnace.

As shown in Fig. l, the lower edges of the sides of said air ducts C are spacecl away from the front and bottom walls 3 and t, respectively of the coking Compartment.

An air-circulating chamber or passageway D is formed adjacent the two side walls of the coking compartment and across the front of said compartment so as to supply air to the air ducts C and to the lower portion of the coking compartment, the vertical walls or part-itions 6 which coperate with the outer walls of the coking compartment B to form the air passageway D having their lower edges serrated or provided with ports through which the air escapes from said passageway into the coking conipartment and into the air ducts C that extend through said compartment and terminate adj acent the combustion chamber A. A vertical partit-ion 7 is arranged in the portion of the air passageway D at the lefthand side of the coking compartment so as to form a downtake flue S which communicates with a pipe 9 that terminates in the ashpit of the furnace under the grate 2, and this portion of said air passageway D is also provided with a partition 10 which forms an air-inlet flue ll that communicates with the fuel chamber of the coking compartment, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

A valve 12 or other suitable device of any preferred design, is provided for controlling the supply of air to the air-inlet flues 8 and ll and said valve is preferably so designed that some air will always pass through the flue ll into the coking compartment even when the air-supply flue 8 is completely closed. The valve 12 herein shown, is slidingly mounted in guideways 13 on the top wall of the coking compartment, and one end of said Valve is notched out or cut away so that there will always be at least a small opening through which the air can pass into the coking compartment across the bed of fuel therein and escape into the air passageway D at the righthand side of said compartment through a port or opening 14: formed in the vertical inner wall (3 ot said passageway at a point directly opposite the air-inlet flue 11, as shown clearly in Fig. 3.

In order that the coked fuel in the compartment B may be fed onto the grate 2 of the combustion chamber easily, I have provided the coking compartment with pokeholes 15 that are located adjacent the bottom wall of said compartment intermediate the members C which act as ducts for the air that is supplied directly to the 'uel in the colring compartment, said poke-holes being normally closed by doors or elosures 16 of any preferred design. The top walls of the members which constitute the air ducts C are substantially inverted V-shape, as shown in Fig. 5, so as to cause the 'fuel to tend to lie between said members, and rows ot' air ducts 17 are :Eormed in the side walls of the members C so as to pel-mit the air to escape from said members and penetrate through the fuel in the coking compartment.

If desired, the members C may be provided with ledges 18 arranged adjacent the air ducts 17 so as to collect ashes which tend to accunulate adjacent said ducts, the top wall of the coking compartment having openings 18 through which a, poker can be inserted to clean off said ledges or dislodge the ashes that collect thereon. The main advantage of constructing the members C in this manner is that in banking the fire, the ash, formed by the coking process, will collect on the ledges 18 and close the ducts 17 after the gas and free carbon have been freed from the green fuel, thereby cutting ofi" the admission of air through the air ducts and causing the fire to travel without burning the coke.

The air that enters the coking compartment B through the air flue 11 travels transversely of said compartment over the fuel therein, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 3, and escapes through the opening 14: to the air passageway D, some of the air escaping from this passageway into the air ducts C and some of the air traveling through the side and rear portions of said passageway and passing under the lower edge of the inner side wall 6 of said passageway and penetrating into the fuel in the lower part of the coking compartment, the outlet ports in the side walls of the air ducts C being so arranged that the air escapes laterally therefrom and penetrates into the fuel which lies between the members C. The incandescent bed of fuel on the grate of the combustion chamber A supplies su'icient heat to the coking compartment B to practically consume the volatile matter and free carbon in the green coal in said coking compartment and thus converts said green coal into coke, the gas produced by this operation being drawn into the combustion chamber A by action of the stack-draft. The coke is fed from the compartment B into the combustion chamber A by means of any suitable pushing device that is introduced through the poke-holes 15, and in order to obtain the best results the fireman should feed the piles of coke between alternate fuel ducts C onto the grate 2, as by Operating the furnace in this manner there will always be a certain quantity of coke in the coking compartment B. Green fuel or fresh fuel is introduced into the coking compartment to take the place of the coke that is fed onto the grate 2, and the heat which radiates from the remaining piles of coke in the coking conpartnent will, of course, help to coke this green fuel.

A 'urnace of the Construction above described will give a steady and uniform heat and the fuel consumed therein will not produce smoke because the volatile matter and free car-bon in the coal are practically consumed before the fuel is fed onto the grate of the combustion chamber. The fuel on the grate is always incandescent, and as this bed of fuel is replenished from time to time by heated coke the fuel in the combustion chamber will never be smothered as would occur if green fuel was introduced directly onto the bed of fuel on the grate. Only enough air is supplied to the coking chamber to produce the proper amount of gas and coke and as this quantity of air is very slight it is not necessary to have a strong draft in the colring chamber. The single clamper which regulates the admisson of air to the coking chamber and to the ash-pit under the grate of the combustion chamber makes it possible to regulate the furnace accurately; and still another desirable feature of such a 'furnace is that the air which is admitted under the grate is heated, owing to the fact that it passes through the flue 8 which is arranged in the passageway through which the heated air and gases from the coking compartment circulate.

If desired, the turnace can be provided with means for preventing the fuel from choking the arched passageway between the combustion chamber and the coking comartment, the means herein shown consistng of a manuallyoperated shat't 19 provided with segmental-shaped wings or de- Vices 20 which move upwardly through the urch and push the coal onto the grate 2 When the shaft 19 is rotated in a certain direction.

In F ig. G I have illustrated my invention embodied in a cooking stove or range, said stove having a coking compartment B' that communicates with the combustion chamber and an air-inlet fine 9' that Supplies air to the ash-pit under the grate. Said coking compartment B' may be constructed in the same manner as the coking compartment of the furnace illustrated in Figs. l to 5 but it is preferable to arrange a pipe 21 between the smoke-pipe 22 of the stove and the upper portion of the coking compartment B' so as to establish a direct communication between the upper part of the coking Compartment and the stove-pipe when the lids in the top of the stove are removed and thus prevent the escape of smoke from the combustion chamber of the stove, the pipe 21 having a damper 23 which is normally closed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A furnace or stove comprising a combustion chamber, a coking compartment communicating with said combustion chamber and adapted to receive green fuel, an air flue, devices coperating with said air fiue for introclucing air directly into the body of fuel in id coking compartment, a fiue which Supplies heated air to the under side of the grate in the combustion chamber, and a single valve for regulating the supply of air to both of said air flues.

2. A furnace or stove comprising a combustion chamber, a coking compartment communicating with said combustion chamber and adapted to receive green fuel, air fiues which supply air to said coking com partment and to the under side of the grate in the combustion chamber, and a damper which regulates the supply of air to both of said flues, said clamper being so constructed that some air can always enter the coking compartment.

3. A furnace or stove comprising a combustion chamber, a coking compartment communicating with said combustion chamber and adapted to receive green fuel, an air passageway extending around the outer walls of said coking compartment and having outlets through which the air escapes into the lower portion of said coking compartment and circulates up through the fuel therein, air-supplying members communicating with said air passageway and arranged in such a manner that they are covered or partially covered by the fuel in said compartment, means whereby the fuel in said coking compartment may be fed onto the grate of the combustion chamber, and means for supplying air to said air passageway and to the under side of the grate of the combustion chamber.

4. A furnace or stove comprising a combustion chamber, a cokng compartment communicating with said combustion chamber and adapted to receive green fuel, an air passageway extending around the outer walls of said coking compartment and having outlets through which the air escapes into the lower portion of said coking compartment and circulates up through the fuel therein, air-supplying members communicating with said air passageway and arranged in such a manner that they are covered or partially covered by the fue] in said compartment, said air-supplyng members having air ports through which the air escapes into the fuel, ledges on said members arranged adjacent said air ports, means whereby the fuel in said coking Compartment may be fed onto the grate of the combustion chamber, and means for supplying air to said air passageway and to the grate of the combustion chamber.

5. A furnace or stove comprising a combustion chamber, a coking compartment communicating with said combustion chamber and adapted to receive green fuel over which air circulates, means for preventing the fuel from clogging the passageway between said chamber and compartment, an air passageway arranged adjacent the outer wall of said coking compartment for receiving the air which circulates over the green fuel in said coking compartment, said air passageway being provided with outlets through which the air escapes directly into the bed of fuel in said coking compart-ment, air-supplying members arranged inside of said compartment and communicating with said air passageway, and means'for supplying` heated air to the grate under the fuel in the combustion chamber, said furnace being so constructed that separate piles or masses of 'Euel may be fed from said coking compartment into said combustion chamber.

6. In a furnace or stove, a combustion chamber, a coking chamber arranged adjacent thereto, air-supplying members arranged in said coking chamber and adapted to be covered or partly covered by the fuel, each of said menbers being provided with ports through which air escapes into the fuel, and means arranged adjacent said ports for collecting ashes which tend to choke said air ports and cut ofi" the escape of air through same under certain conditions.

7. In a furnace or stove having a fuel compartment, air-supplying members arranged in said compartment and provided with a series of parallel rows of ports arranged at different distances from the bottom wall of said compartment, said members being adapted to be covered or partly covered by the fnel, and neans for causing ashes to collect adjacent said ports under certain conditions and thus dimnish the flow of air from said members.

8. In a furnace or stove, a fnel Compartment, a combustion chamber, an arch which inclnes downwardly from said fuel conpartment toward said combnston chamber, a pluralty of ar-supplyng members ar-- ranged in the lower portion of said fnel compartment and spaced away 'rom each other so that the fuel will lie between said members, each of said members being provided with an approximately inverted V- shaped defleeting wall and having a p1nra1- ity of longitndinally extendng rows of ports in its side walls through which air can escape and pass nto the fuel that hes between said members, and means for causing air to flow over the mass of fuel in said fuel 20 J OSEPH J. DIX.

iVitnesses:

XVELLS L. CHURCH, GEORGE BAKEWELL.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). C." 

